American Expansion During The 19th Century - 1349 Words

American Expansion In the 19th century, America experienced an industrial revolution that changed its whole ideology of expansion. America experienced at huge growth in industry after the civil war. During the Gilded Age huge companies sprouted and new business were formed. The United States was quickly becoming a huge financial heaven for companies. Companies during that era started to invest in foreign countries. This led them to have more connections with foreign countries. The industries would mostly want the resources and to have a market in each country. The U.S. colonized territories such as Philippines, Hawaii, and Latin America for their resources. These countries were specially targeted for the benefits they gave to American†¦show more content†¦The fall of the salve system in the south caused them to turn to manufacturing more than ever. The United States was following in the step of Britain in the manufacturing world. Textile mills, spinning Jennies, steam boats, railroads, and ele ctricity all were innovated to improve the industries. The United States is enriched with lots of resources such as coal, oil, and iron but that wasn’t enough for big industries. Companies looked to gain more resources and expand their markets. Underdeveloped countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia had valuable resources. Hawaii had many sugar fields, the Philippines would be used as a coaling station, and in Central America the canal was built to cut the distance to travel around South America. Late in the 19th century, the U.S. would go to war with Spain over the mistreatment of Cuba over other reasons. The U.S. found out that the Spanish was holding Cubans in concentration camps which gave the U.S. have a reason to liberate Cuba from Spain. Also, American business had fifty million invested in Cuba and didn’t feel it was safe until America was directly involved with Cuba. The Spanish-American war was the event needed most for the U.S. to start expanding its reign. The Spanish-American war ended with Spanish defeat and the U.S. gaining Spain’s colonies: Philippines, Guam, and